Listening to some internet marketers lately, I get the impression that a lot of people are feeling discouraged over the results they are getting (or not getting) and wonder if they should give it all away.

Usually, the first thing new marketers come across when starting out, is all the hype about how much you can make online - IF - you buy this or that e-book or course. There are so many sales pages, email lists/newsletters and sales pitches coming in to our lives on a daily basis. It is a natural tendency to believe everyone else can do it, and do it well, but we struggle by comparison.

If you are feeling like this, I can empathize. I have felt that way lots of times. Then I realized what I was doing to myself. I was comparing myself to those marketers in the ‘Internet Marketing’ niche. It’s a huge niche, but it is also very competitive. They are the marketers that are hitting me everyday with this or that offer of the latest and greatest way to make money on-line.

The thing is, they are mostly selling me products FOR the IM niche and unless you are really into that niche yourself, they are not the products that relate to what you are doing.

They show you pictures of stats, transaction details and testimonials to try and convince you that they know what they are doing, and how you can do it too.

But, does what they are marketing help you right now with what YOU are doing?

Comparing ourselves to these marketers is counter productive to our motivation and mindset. We don’t need to do any comparisons, because they are not relevant.

2008 is the year of Web 2.0, selling REAL products to REAL customers. It isn’t going to be an instant million dollar business that we build. Just like in the off-line world, it takes time to build a following, trust and respect from prospective customers. We need to look at branding ourselves, becoming the person-to-go-to for the particular advice, information or product in OUR niche. Using all the Web 2.0 tools and applications to help us establish ourselves in the on-line market place.

It really upsets me when I hear the discouragement of others who are really working hard to make a go of it. The Internet is a worldwide marketplace. In other words, it’s unlimited. We have the tools and knowledge to make a very profitable business with our own niches. Stop looking at what the IM’ers are doing in their niche and concentrate on your own business.

Stick at it, add quality content - people WILL find you if you are honest, consistent and have a quality product. Don’t get discouraged just because you didn’t make your fortune this week. Your business and customer list will grow in time if you work at it.

Too many people give up and leave a potentially successful business in the sandbox. Stay focused on what you believe is a good niche, add to it, grow it, develop it over time. Above all, DON’T compare your efforts to those of the IM’ers who are hitting your inbox every day raving about their results.

We all need and want help and advice. We all need to learn. Things never stay the same on the internet and this year is a new learning curve for all of us.

There are plenty of FREE learning resources out there - and tools too. Spend an hour a day learning or using something new and see if you can apply it to your marketing efforts. Then spend another 2-3 hours developing your products. Stick at it and you will be successful.

I want to start sharing some information about using the great resources that are out there over the next few months, so stay tuned. There are some killer (free) tools right under our noses!

Til next time,

Stay Cool,

Sharon

If you have been in the Internet Marketing game for very long, you will have heard a lot about how important it is to TEST different elements of your landing and sales pages to get the most out of you traffic.

There are some good programs out there that will help you to do that, BUT did you know that GOOGLE has a FREE multi variate testing tool that does an excellent job of this for you?

Why purchase expensive software when the tool you need is already available for FREE???

What does this tool do you ask? Well, it allows you to set up a main page, and rotate different sections of that page to test to see which combination is more effective.

This is what Google tells us about it:

Website Optimizer works by testing different versions of the content on your live site to see what will lead to the highest conversion rates. We’ll guide you through the process of setting up an experiment to test your content by following these steps.

• Pick a test page and a conversion page.
• Tag both these pages with experiment tags we provide.
• Push the tagged versions of your pages live. (Your users won’t see any changes yet.)
• Once your pages are tagged, you or your marketing team can make the rest of the changes without technical help from within the tool.
• Add different variations of content you’d like to test into the Website Optimizer tool.
• Preview the variations on your test page within the tool. (You can have your team preview them too.)
• Launch the experiment.
• When your test page is opened in a browser, the experiment tags on your page will contact Website Optimizer and request for a set of variations to display on the test page.
• When a user visits your test page, they will see one combination of your content variations. (We make sure users will see the same combination even if they visit the test page more than once.)
• If the user proceeds to your conversion page, we’ll record a conversion.
• Soon after your experiment launches, we’ll begin to provide you with reports about performance of your test content.

Use the results to make educated decisions about your test page.

When we have collected enough data, the results will be available within your account.

You can test different headlines, layouts, elements of the page etc and you get extensive reports on which combinations result in the best performance.

Check it out now by going to Google and adding Website Optimizer to your account.

Why pay for something you can get for free?

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• The massive business opportunity the biz-op experts are completely missing now — and how it could make you millions in 2008 and 2009 …
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I’ve been hearing about and watching Frank Kern work for over a year now and so has pretty much everyone else.

The guy is astonishingly prolific … a leading light in the Product Launch Formula arena … and a darned good copywriter in his own right.

Plus, Frank is known for having the most outrageous sense of humor in the entire online marketing space.

You’ll hear at least one idea in this interview that could make you richer than Midas in the next 12 months.

So, pour yourself a cup-o-Joe, crank up your computer speakers, click the play button below, and then sit back and enjoy!

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Attribution Statement: This article was first published in The Total Package.

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Have you heard about this fantastic place yet?

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This “insiders club” gives you access to information, software and support that finally gives you a real shot at success online …

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This forum is the ‘real deal’ - I found this place about 6 months ago, and I can honestly say it is the ONLY Internet Marketing membership I belong to anymore.

If you are looking for a group of people who share their tips and techniques, are helpful and supportive and are just plain FUN to be around, then this is the forum for you.

Dennis Becker gives content to members that is up to date, informative, creative and Huge Value. Members discuss all sorts of ways to make money online, how to get started and grow your business.

The value inside this place is WAY over what you pay. I can personally vouch for the friendly community and networking opportunities.

Surround yourself with people who are working towards the same goals and who are willing to share all of their knowledge and support with each other.

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Read what Dennis has to say and JOIN! It will be the most valuable investment you make this year in your Internet Marketing journey.

Cheers,

Sharon

By Lucas Heijn

Most people have no idea how to compose a squeeze page that converts into sales. Rather, they throw together components that they’ve seen applied in other squeeze pages - but normally don’t put them together in the same fashion that the owner of the productive and converting squeeze page did.

One major problem is copy. And that’s fine. Not everyone is going to be an excellent writer - never mind a copywriter. But as someone selling a product or trying to build a list, it is important that you know your strengths and weaknesses - and that you either spend the time to overcome them or hire someone else to do it for you.

With copywriting, for example, it is all important to use a mix of persuasive sales points with compelling psychological triggers. Most people who create a sales page miss either one or both of those components.

For example, they may center so much on building hype that they don’t really explain what solution they are offering - and for whom they are providing it. If I don’t have a particular problem that your product solves, why would I purchase it? I wouldn’t.

Now, if they neglect to sprinkle in psychological triggers, such as “scientifically tested,” “guaranteed,” and “shocking,” no one will feel compelled to keep on reading, as the benefits will have a low or mediocre perceived value.

In addition to these two problems, some sales pages lack cohesiveness and focus. The copy looks unprofessional and it doesn’t slowly grind forwards, breaking down the web site’s visitor’s resistance to the sale - and persuading him or her to buy more and more at each sales trigger point.

In addition, if there aren’t numerous calls to action - another form of psychological trigger - then a possible visitor may never feel compelled adequately to pull out his or her credit card on the spot and make the purchase.

When writing your copy it is important to keep focused on your goal and that must always be to get your reader to act on your copy.

About the Author:

Lucas Heijn is CEO of LinksParadise a hosting company. LinksParadise specialize in hosting for small business. They supply a package that has been expressly designed with internet marketers in mind. They have a variety of hosting packages available to choose from www.my-web-host.com